N. Korea launches new model of tactical rockets: Seoul source

North Korea has introduced and test-fired new tactical rockets that can pose a threat to South Korea's major military facilities, a military source here said Monday.

"The five short-range projectiles that North Korea fired off last week were found to be novel tactical missiles, according to our analysis jointly with the United States of the North's photo of the rockets," said the source, asking not to be named.

The communist country launched five short-range rockets that flew some 220 kilometers from its eastern border town of Wonsan into the East Sea on Thursday, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The following day, the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a picture of the launch.

The latest model appears "different from its existing 300-millimeter multiple rocket launcher and KN-02 missiles," the source said, noting that it is expected to be dubbed the "KN-10."

He did not elaborate further, saying more analysis is needed to learn its specifications.

Factoring in its range, the new rocket is expected to further ratchet up military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as it can easily reach the South's military headquarters at Gyeryongdae in the country's southern province of South Chungcheong if launched from the border town of Kaesong. (Yonhap)